Renewed push to restore the Black-Footed Ferret:

Earlier this week, federal wildlife officials announced they've crafted a new plan to restore the highly endangered black-footed ferret that includes re-introducing the animal to more states. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service recovery plan calls for boosting their numbers to about 3-thousand animals.

A sleepy kit

Credit USFWS/Kimberly Tamkun

In this feature interview with Edward O'Brien, Fish and Wildlife Service Black-Footed Ferret Recovery Coordinator, Pete Gober, says a key element of this plan is to make it as non-threatening as possible to draw in more partners.

Gober says the prairie dog-eating member of the weasel family was thought to be extinct until 1981, when a rancher found a solitary enclave of the animals in northwest Wyoming. It's proven to be a difficult job to restore the animals.